UPDATE 2 PM: The Live+Same Day ratings are in, and ABC got a pleasant surprise, a .2 lift for both Dancing With The Stars (to a 2.2 rating in 18-49) and the preview of new drama Forever (to 1.7), which is proving to be the DVR player its online awareness suggested it could be. The surprising uptick also bodes better for the drama’s L+3 and L+7 projections, just revised up by ABC to 2.3 and 2.6, respectively, so I’ve adjusted the qualifier for Forever‘s premiere in the headline from “soft” to “decent”.

Not much other movement in the finals, with only the 8 PM episode of The Big Bang Theory inching up a tenth to a 5.4 and new CBS light drama Scorpion sliding down by a tenth to a 3.2 at 9 PM.

PREVIOUS 10: 30 AM: The 2014-15 broadcast season officially kicked off last night with the biggest showdown of the fall: The top scripted series on TV, The Big Bang Theory, going head to head with network TV’s No.1 reality series, NBC’s The Voice and fall’s highest-profile new series, Fox’sGotham. The three also faced veteran Dancing With The Stars on ABC and Monday Night Football on ESPN.

None of the big-ticket competitors in the 8 PM hour faltered, proving again that the TV universe has the ability to expand when there is enough compelling programming on.

The only newcomer in the slot, Fox’s Gotham (3.2 in adults 18-49, 8 million viewers), did everything you would like to see from a rookie — it delivered solid ratings with no lead-in support, improved significantly the time period (+39% in 18-49 vs the Bones season premiere last fall, which was a week earlier) and showed some growth (0.1) at the half-hour mark. According to Fox projections, Gotham will grow to a 5.1 in Live+7. That does not quite match the launch of last fall’s superhero drama, ABC’s Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D (4.7 in Live+SD, 7.0 in L+7) but is a very healthy number in a very competitive time period.

CBS’ The Big Bang Theory continues to defy its age, impervious to scheduling moves. In its return to its original night, Big Bang kicked off its eighth season with back-to-back episodes that delivered a 5.3 and 5.4 in adults 18-49 and 17.8 million and 18 million viewers, respectively. The regular 8 PM episode matched the fast national for Big Bang‘s season premiere in the Thursday 8 PM slot last fall, while the special 8:30 PM episode was down 0.4.

This is where time shifting viewing comes into play. Last night featured three of the biggest DVR gainers on broadcast TV: Big Bang, The Blacklist and Sleepy Hollow. Last fall, they logged three of the top six 18-49 gains in Live+3 for premiere week, ranging from 1.3-1.7 rating, and were in the Top 5 for Live+7 lifts (1.7 – 2.2). So while Big Bang appears on par with last season’s opener, if CBS’ projections hold, the 8-8:30 PM premiere would go up to a 8.2 demo rating in L7, eclipsing last season’s debut, which climbed to a 7.8.

The picture is similar for NBC’s Blacklist, whose second-season premiere fast national last night, 3.4 in 18-49, was down 10.5% (0.4) from the series debut last fall. But in L7, it is projected to go up to a 5.7 vs. 5.5 for the series debut last year. Even on the fast national level, The Blacklist is impressive, up 31% from its May finale and posting its second best Live+SD result only behind the series debut.

However, even a big DVR lift (and a strong lead-in from Gotham) won’t help Fox’s Sleepy Hollow erase the deficit vs. its strong debut last September. It drew a 2.0 in 18-49 last night, holding onto a little more than half of the Gotham demo rating. That was down a big 43% from its debut last fall and also down (-17%) from its season finale. In L7, it is projected to climb to a 3.9 rating, down from the 5.3 demo rating for the series opener.

Big Bang also continues to successfully launch new series. After helping comedy The Crazy Ones log stellar premiere ratings last September, the geeky comedy did the same last night for a new hourlong series described as Big Bang in a procedural setting — Scorpion. CBS’ freshman light drama posted a solid 3.3 in 18-49, a 22% improvement vs last year’s premiere Monday when comedies (2 Broke Girls, Mom), occupied the 9 PM hour. Scorpion also easily topped Fox’s Sleepy Hollow. A good sampling heading into next week when Scorpion won’t have Big Bang as a 8:30 PM lead. At 10 PM CBS aired the Under The Dome finale (1.8), which was down -36% from last season’s closer, which aired a week earlier, but posted the supernatural drama’s best rating this season since July 14.

NBC’s The Voice (3.9), with new coaches Gwen Stefani and Pharrell, was down 20% from last fall’s premiere’s fast national but up 18% vs. its May finale for the series’ best demo rating since March 17. NBC (3.7 in 18-49, 12.6 million viewers) won the first night of the season in 18-49, while CBS (3.5, 13.1 million) was tops in total viewers.

New ABC drama Forever (1.5) got a preview behind Dancing With The Stars (2.0) before moving into the “cursed” ABC Tuesday 10 PM slot tomorrow. It did only a little better than the new ABC drama that occupied the Tuesday 10 PM slot last fall, Lucky 7, which opened with a 1.3 demo rating en route to a quick demise. Forever, about a medical examiner who is immortal, should benefit from a stronger digital presence and awareness. ABC projects a L+7 rating of a 2.4 vs. the 1.5 that Lucky 7 got. Also on the bright side, Forever won’t have to face The Blacklist in its new slot.

Dancing With The Stars (12 million viewers) fell 12% in total viewers and 17% in 18-49 from last Monday’s season premiere, which was better retention than last fall.

The CW aired a new America’s Next Top Model (0.4), which was on par with last week.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football from 8:15-11:45 PM ET logged a 9.2 overnight rating in the metered markets for the Chicago Bears’ 27-19 road victory over the New York Jets, down 7% from last Monday.

28 Comments

Mike • on Sep 23, 2014 10:47 am

I know Gotham faced a lot of competition, but shouldn’t it have done better? It was, after all, the most hyped new show of the fall. And given that Sleepy Hollow, which premiered to better numbers last year, has already fallen hard, this can’t be seen as an auspicious start.

Derek • on Sep 23, 2014 10:51 am

Gotham was competing with CBS’ highest rated show (BBT) and NBC’s highest rated show (The Voice). It still did terrific ratings wise considering the compete level at that hour.

Bruce Partington • on Sep 23, 2014 11:30 am

If Gotham was the most-hyped, Scorpion was a close second. By the end of BBT I could see Scorpion ads whenever I closed my eyes.

Sleepy Hollow returned with a very strong episode that promises more of what may be the wildest ride on broadcast — the most frequent description I’ve seen online today has been “batshit crazy” (meant positively). The chemistry between the leads is excellent, the macabre is well-balanced with humor, and last night featured a naked Ben Franklin, an autonomous suit of armor with a flaming sword, and a topless headless horseman. This is a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Whereas while I spot-watched Scorpion during commercial breaks what I saw was a high-budget Leverage without the charm (or Breaking In crossed with Touch). Some of the main characters were so annoying that five minutes’ exposure gave me the feeling I wouldn’t be able to get through a whole episode. Maybe, like Agents of SHIELD, it’ll get better once they get going (and the ads stop giving away the whole plot), but if it weren’t for Forever I’d pick Scorpion as most likely for earliest cancellation this season.

Phil • on Sep 23, 2014 12:40 pm

Agents of SHIELD never got better.

The Writer • on Sep 23, 2014 4:19 pm

Yes, it did.

Baked in Alaska • on Sep 23, 2014 5:55 pm

If you watched the last five minutes of the last episode you would have seen it… sure all the rest of the episodes sucked hard, but God, those last five minutes. So good!!!

Doc Michaels • on Sep 23, 2014 11:48 am

No, it shouldn’t have done better.

Mmmmhh • on Sep 23, 2014 11:58 am

Did you watch those two shows?

Sleepy Hollow started out as a great idea but it just drags on at this point.

Just watched my DVR recording of Gotham and I couldn’t agree more – this show is terrible and all it reminded me of was a bad.y executed CW show. I can’t believe Fox was promoting this the way they did. The mugging by actors and the silly storytelling – – I’m at a loss. I can’t imagine this will sustain past 2 or 3 episodes before people flee in droves.

I watch everything via Netflix which is a great way to filter out shows like Sleepy Hollow that seem like they might be fun early on, but starts to drag quickly. (Or the opposite case: Agents of SHIELD.) So thanks for the heads-up, I’m deleting Sleepy Hollow from my queue. Maybe this time next year, I’ll be doing the same to Gotham. Keep me posted.

Camcan • on Sep 26, 2014 9:22 am

Sleepy Hollow hardly drags.

Truth • on Sep 23, 2014 11:22 am

Agreed. Very solid numbers for Gotham considering the competition. Also, there was a big MNF game on ESPN that went down to the last play, between two big market teams, New York and Chicago. Lots of good numbers for network TV last night.

Frank • on Sep 23, 2014 11:27 am

Forever did pretty good against the Blacklist really. Way better than what I anticipated. I was expecting Gotham to do better but it was a solid start. Scorpion also a big surprise in a good way.

Joke's on you! • on Sep 23, 2014 11:36 am

Why so serious? Not even the whiff of Bathead can defeat the NFL! Hahahaha! Look for a teen vandal with a killer sense of humor in future episodes to boost Gotham’s ratings. Just kidding…Hahahaha!!!

Mark • on Sep 23, 2014 11:41 am

Scorpion belongs on TNT.

F • on Sep 23, 2014 12:08 pm

Did you mean America’s Next Top Model for CW (instead of America’s Got Talent, which it says now)? Also, I feel like I’m the only one watching that show haha. Anyway, I enjoyed Gotham. Jada and the actor who played Penguin were standouts.

Thank goodness I don’t care about reality tv. I simply just don’t. Anyhow, Gotham was awsome! What I expected. Although too much blood and gore. I don’t like that and can’t imagine the sponsors do either. Gotham and sleepy hollow which I don’t care for, would work better on Sundays in place of those awful cartoons that are way past thier prime. I wish fox could reboot a new superman type series like Gotham.

cj • on Sep 23, 2014 1:12 pm

Under the Dome ratings? Did I miss those?

Gotham was okay, probably won’t watch again.. maybe once in a while if it’s a big episode (Joker).

Scorpion I will check out again. Liked the concept more than I thought I would and through the characters were all strong. Next week’s episode doesn’t look that great though… hopefully it’s like Die Hard with a virus (trapped in the building).

Blacklist was okay, a little draggy in the middle.

Stopped watching Sleepy Hollow last year after 7 episodes because the tone was flat and it was like the same thing every week and never lived up to it’s potential with the history (george washintington, ben franklin) stuff.

Under the Dome was finally exciting. Weird ending though. Are they leaving the Dome? I kind of felt like they were on their way to purgatory from Lost! lol

Michael • on Sep 23, 2014 2:23 pm

I’ll catch Gotham here in an hour or so because I opted for Big Bang last night. The first BBT kind of left me thinking, maybe it is past time to retire this show, not sure I laughed even once, but the second episode hit it’s stride and had some humorous moments (lines). I skipped Scorpion because the trailers that ran during BBT. It looked like it was going to be a BBT mixed with Criminal Minds shoved into a Numbers kind of drama, and I don’t enjoy that kind of show. Maybe had it been Chuck-like rather than CSI, more humor than mystery, it might be something I could go for. As for everything else, I don’t watch reality competition shows and never watched the first season of Sleepy Hollow or Blacklist.

DWTS: D Leg End Continues • on Sep 23, 2014 3:58 pm

Freaking amazing hold for Dancing With The Stars, retaining almost its entire demo and total viewers from week one. Next week’s theme is movie night and should bring in an even bigger audience. Truly gifted choreography displayed last night and wasn’t sure how it(DWTS) would hold up against Monday Night Football, Big Bang Theory(1 hour of it), The Voice and Gotham’s première. Dancing With The Stars should only get stronger from here as the weaker dancers are eliminated first and dancers worth watching earn more of the spotlight.
And now for the surprises. Forever benefits from the DWTS exposure and now has a shot of doing well on Tuesdays at 10pm. Scorpion also benefitted from BBT, but that script and collection of characters was God-Awful. It was as bad as Intelligence behind NCIS last year. I smell a quick death coming for this one. I won’t waste another week on that garbage. Meanwhile, Sleepy Hollow had the weakest première for a veteran show so far this season, losing much of Gotham’s demo and total viewers.
In summation, DWTS seems to have the ability to hold onto its audience regardless of the competition. DWTS is basically in competition with its past seasons to keep up the great traditions of outstanding ballroom dance collaborations, chemistry, and creative concepts. The Backlist did well for week one but Castle and NCIS: LO.A. return next week. The Voice ratings dive from last spring continues. It will probably hang out in the two-point something zone for the remainder of the season. Scorpion will feel the sting of its huge audience bailing on it next week. Sleepy Hollow is a dead show walking. Gotham? Any number below a 2.5 in demo and 6 million viewers next week is bad, and dangerous low, especially for a first year show.

Joshua • on Sep 23, 2014 4:18 pm

I stopped watching Scorpion after 15 minutes. Really bad. The Blacklist borrows from stories done a hundred times before – as they did last year. A twin sister taking over the identity of another twin sister. Seriously? Saw that coming the second the woman said she had a twin. Blacklist is already old and tired. Watch the ratings because they’re going to start to plummet. Forever was easily the best show of the night. Finally a series that makes a concerted effort to deliver original storytelling. I hope the ratings climb every week because this show is innovative, unique, and a much needed new TV show on Monday nights.

tom • on Sep 23, 2014 7:16 pm

Not sure why Gotham, Dancing and voice all have to be on the same night — there are other nights that each of these shows can thrive — as proved by last weeks dancing premiere.

I watched Scorpion only because it was on after the Big Bang Theory and was surprised that I liked it. This could be because it isn’t a show I would normally watch so I had low expectations of it…haha. But I’m into it now and will be watching it now for sure. Definitely reminds me of The Touch mixed with Numbers. Really cool.

The basic premise of Scorpion has a tremendous amount of potential.
Too bad it was wasted on such an abysmal script.
I understand the need for “the willing suspension of disbelief” but this tripe has so many holes in the plot, it makes a screen door look like a bank vault.
I would list the failings but even limiting myself to the most egregious offenses would strain the 10,000 character limit for postings.

Sandra Willwerth • on Sep 29, 2014 9:39 pm

Scorpion, I am in love with this show, amazing! I hope this is not one of those where I love it and the public does not. Great characters and plot lines!!

Ray C • on Oct 7, 2014 10:00 am

Scorpion is one of the best shows in years! Watched the pilot (DVR) and was immediately hooked. Showed it to a friend.. hooked as well. Then today I read the reviews. Mostly bad. As I predicted, most reviewers aren’t smart enough to get it. Yes we need to suspend our belief in some of the things (standing up in a car at 200 MPH?) but I will leave it to the Myth Busters to figure if that’s possible.

The point is that the writers have successfully made us believe or at least wonder if such things are possible. And guess what, they are. Ask the US Cyber Command (a new branch of the Armed Services) or my son the computer geek. Or a microbiologist. Its true.

The real point of this show, as with all really good sci-fi genre series is that its really about the human condition. About any of us who felt different than others when we were growing up. Treated differently than others because they are smarter or emotionally challenged in some way. And finding the personal strength to overcome the adversity that comes with that.

No the paid reviewers don’t get it . Not smart enough is the obvious answer. But then again if they were, I’m sure they would be doing something that required a little more intelligence.

This is another one of those shows that will probably fade into obscurity for those reasons. I hope I’m wrong.